Isaiah prophesied: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). The Hebrew Lexicon states that “healed” in this verse means to “restore to pristine felicity,” which means belonging to the earliest period, a state in which we are free from soil or decay, and then the lexicon goes on to state that this restoration comes about only by remission of sins!

“Christ bath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us…That the blessings of Abraham might come on the Gentiles” (Galatians 3:14-15)

Cause & Effect

As we have seen, damaged emotions create the fodder for physical, emotional, and mental illnesses. Damaged emotions almost always begin with an unresolved offense, a spiritual condition leaving a permanent bruise: “There is no healing of thy bruise; the wound is grievous…” (Nahum 3:19). The Hebrew word for bruise in this verse of the Bible is “sheber,” which means a fracture. Emotional attachment to offenses opens the door to sinful behaviors that attempt to cover up the bruised condition, such as addiction to drugs or alcohol, anger, a critical spirit, jealousy, a fear-based need to dominate, or holding a grudge: “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin…” Games 1:14-15). In this verse, the word “lust” means the active desire resulting from the wound or hurt, which is the diseased condition of the soul. 1 Therefore, the cause, or the root, of our damaged emotions goes back to sin. The bruising, which produces pain, stress, anxiety and the like, is the effect. We have to see the effect of our own sins in our lives, and own them, in order to overcome them.

Binding Up Wounds and Bruises

Therefore, the above behaviors are warning signs of bruises that have not healed. Because the wound was not tended to, it is open and vulnerable to continued offenses (both to us and from us), which keeps the emotion or desire active. This causes continued bruising: “From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment” (Isaiah 1:6). God is saying the wound keeps oozing with infection from the point of injury, and it must be bound up and closed. But we play a part in closing that wound. God cannot heal us until we release our sins to Him in repentance and .choose to forgive. The ointment of the Blood of Jesus is then applied when we forgive and surrender the damaged emotion to God, who closes the wound.

For a Christian, there is only one covering for such an open wound: the blood of Jesus. Jesus took upon himself all the suffering of mankind. On the Cross, Jesus looked at the sickness and oppression that man would suffer as a result of the curse, including all the offenses against you, your bruises and wounds, your infirmities and physical suffering. In one act of selfless love, Jesus freely offered His blood to atone for your sins, thus breaking the curse. This is why it is written in 1 Peter 2:24, “…by whose stripes ye were healed.” Healing, therefore, is in the atonement.

Many seek prescription drugs, psychotherapy, exercise regimens, yoga to relieve the symptoms of stress and disorder, but these therapies only cover up the problem. Damaged emotions are irreversible without the blood of Jesus applied to them. The life of the flesh is in the blood, and only the blood of Jesus has eternal life.